The enlargement commissioner had planned to deliver a slightly patronising message to the farmers in this predominantly Catholic country, urging them to pray early and often that EU expansion would be a success.

By contrast, the affable German decided not to err on the side of caution last week. When asked by one Polish journalist if her compatriots should be popping open the bubbly because the EU wants Warsaw to join in 2004, Verheugen quipped: “I know how you drink in Poland. So I’d say drink one glass of champagne and one glass of vodka and then go straight back to work.”

Romano Prodi was more guarded in his response, though: “The Commission has nothing against drinking alcohol, provided it’s done in moderation.”

There is something splendidly parochial about the state-aid investigation launched last week by the European Commission’s competition department into JC Decaux, a French advertising company. The question …